Setting up at Target Center

Prepping for the Bulls-Wolves game tonight, noticed lots of Bulls jerseys hanging around downtown.

Lot of storylines here tonight, including:

-Derrick Rose continuing to remind us how much better he is than the guy picked right behind him, Michael Beasley.

-Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, the reigning coach of the year, was once a lowly Wolves assistant. If the Wolves hadn't hired someone as accomplished as Rick Adelman, we would be accusing them of letting a good one get away.

-According to Canishoopus, the Wolves are 22-95 with Darko Milicic on their roster. Manna from Somewhere.

-According to espnstats, Ricky Rubio has three of the four double-digit assist games turned in by a bench player in the NBA this season, with Andre Miller owning the other. Rubio also has played more fourth-quarter minutes than anyone else in the NBA, having missed only 7 fourth-quarter seconds.

-According to espnstats, NBA teams are 6-0 this year on the third game of back-to-backs. (Either that or I read that one wrong. Seems very strange). The Wolves are playing a third straight day, following a victory over hapless Washington and an ugly loss in Toronto.

-The Wolves' bench has dramatically outperformed the starters. I blame Wes Johnson and Darko, two guys who I can't see lasting in the NBA.

-Kevin Love ranks first in the NBA with 14.9 rebounds per game. He averaged 15.2 last year when he led the league. But he played with no energy last night in Toronto, which affected every aspect of his game.

Love leads the NBA with nine double-doubles and is the only player to record a double-double in each of his team's games this year.

-Ricky Rubio is 8-for-16 on three-pointers this year. In fourth quarters, Rubio is 16-for-31 with 20 assists. He ranks 11th in the NBA and first among rookies with 7.4 assists per game.

-The Wolves rank first in the NBA in fourth-quarter field goal percentage on defense, holding opponents to 34.3 percent. Last year, the Wolves ranked last in that category in the NBA.

-The Bulls allow 86.6 points per game, second-best in the league behind Philadelphia.

Upcoming: I'll be on 1500espn with Tom Pelissero tonight at 6:40 or so, and I'm on the station every weekday at 2:05 with Reusse and Mackey. Please follow me on Twitter, @Souhanstrib.

Jim Souhan analyzes the local sports scene and advises you to never take his betting advice. He likes old guitars and old music, never eats press box hot dogs.